The Materiality Of Birth

Once upon a time, there was a girl and the girl had a shadow. The two were connected, tethered together. And the girl ate, her food was given to her warm and tasty. But when the shadow was hungry, he had to eat rabbit raw and bloody. On Christmas, the girl received wonderful toys; soft and cushy. But the shadow's toys were so sharp and cold they sliced through her fingers when she tried to play with them. The girl met a handsome prince and fell in love. But the shadow at that same time had Abraham, it didn't matter if she loved him or not. He was tethered to the girl's prince after all. Then the girl had her first child, a beautiful baby girl. But the shadow, she gave birth to a little monster. Umbrae was born laughing. The girl had a second child, a boy this time. They had to cut her open and take him from her belly. The shadow had to do it all herself. She named him Pluto, he was born to love fire. So you see, the shadow hated the girl so much for so long until one day the shadow realised she was being tested by God.

Reasoning:

1. In the first clause, the question is whether a beautiful baby girl is a depictive Attribute or a unit in a nominal group complex. Viewed 'from above', both interpretations construe an elaborating relation between her first child and a beautiful baby girl. However, viewed 'from below', a beautiful baby girl is realised by its own tone group, with the same tone choice as the preceding tone group (tone concord). This is a feature of paratactic elaboration (apposition), but not of depictive Attributes.

2. In the second clause, the question is how to analyse the shadow. In this instance, there is no possible tone concord with she, so the two do not form an elaborating paratactic nominal group complex, and so the shadow is a distinct clause element. The clue here is textual. Whatever its experiential function, the shadow is realised by its own tone group, making it the focus of New information, switching the focus of attention from the girl. Similarly, if the shadow is a distinct clause element, then it must function as marked Theme, since the Subject/Actor is she. The simplest explanation comes from taking the view 'from roundabout' and interpreting the shadow as agnate to such Matter circumstances as regarding the shadow, as for the shadow etc.

3. In the third clause, the question is whether open is the particle of a phrasal verb or a resultative Attribute. Viewed 'from above', both interpretations construe open as the result of cut, and viewed 'from roundabout', both interpretations have the same modal structure, since the particle of a phrasal verb and a resultative Attribute both serve as Adjunct. In this instance, the view 'from below', however, favours a resultative Attribute interpretation, since the particle of a phrasal verb is either a preposition or an adverb (Halliday & Matthiessen 2014: 413), whereas open is an adjective, which is a typical realisation of a resultative Attribute.